Greene County Bancorp earnings increase

The Catskill-based parent of The Bank of Greene County said this morning it earned $757,000 in the second quarter ending Dec. 31, 2006, or 18 cents per diluted share, up from $527,000, or 13 cents a share, a year earlier.

For the first six months, the bank earned $1.5 million or 36 cents per diluted share, compared to $1.2 million or 28 cents a share a year earlier.

The bank increased its provision for loan losses to $111,000 for the six months ended Dec. 31, up from $60,000 a year earlier, as loan charge-offs increased. An overdraft protection program offered by the bank saw net charge-offs increase by $29,000 for the six-month period, up 138 percent from the year before.

Assets totaled $312.3 million as of Dec. 31, compared to $307.6 million a year earlier. Shares (Nasdaq: GCBC) were unchanged at $14.68 in early afternoon trading.